The Central Sparks take on the Western Storm in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, in their first game in 2023 hosting at Moseley cricket club.
Sparks are on a two-game winning run, having beaten both Thunder and the South East Stars on their return to 50 overs action.
OVERVIEW
Fixture: Central Sparks v Western Storm
Competition: Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy
Date: Tuesday 11 July 2023
Game Start: 10:30am
Venue: Moseley cricket club
Central Sparks
Lloyd Tennant’s side have been performing excellently well in the last couple of weeks, having gained back-to-back wins since returning to action in the RHFT. In both games against Thunder and the Stars, Sparks posted a fantastic number of runs, going over 230 in both games.
After making a mixed start to their 50 overs campaign in April, winning two, losing two and drawing one until the Charlotte Edwards Cup began, the Sparks have made the mixed start into a good one as they now have four wins on their record in this format.
Partnerships are always hard to come by in the game, they go a long way to winning games and that was something which Tennant’s side made happen against Thunder. Abbey Freeborn and Ami Campbell batted very well, scoring (67) and (68) respectively. Then, in Guildford, Charis Pavely and Issy Wong clocked up an 100-run partnership to both score half-centuries.
On the bowling side, Katie George has been getting into her stride and becoming a leader in the field and the Sparks number 99 has taken six wickets in her last two games. Against her former side in Storm, she will be hoping to take some more wickets to guide Sparks to a third consecutive victory.
Western Storm
In their last game, Storm were beaten by six runs at the hands of The Blaze in a thriller at the Seat Unique Stadium nine days ago. That was their return to the 50 overs format after finishing sixth in the Charlotte Edwards Cup table.
Storm have some standout players this season in the likes of, Danielle Gibson, Lauren Filer, Orla Prendergast, Fran Wilson and Sophie Luff. However, Prendergast has returned to Ireland, with both Filer and Gibson in the England Ashes squad, leaving Storm a couple players short.
In the game against The Blaze, Alex Griffiths scored (67) from 118 balls and helped guide her side to a total of 239/7. Wilson produced a fine innings of (43) which shows that Storm have batting prowess and they have picked up wins by showing that, one of which was against Sparks in the T20 competition.
In Bristol back in June, Storm beat Sparks by seven wickets and it was the batting of Wilson that helped the team on their way to victory.
They have strength in depth but have also been on the end of some negative results and after losing in their return to action, while the Sparks won, Tennant’s side will be hoping to be too strong for the Storm led by Trever Griffin.
Head-to-Head
As mentioned, Storm were victorious the last time the two sides met, but so far in the competition Sparks do sit six places above Tuesday’s opponents and are 11 points better off.
In the last 50 overs match with the two, it was the Sparks who prevailed, in a 22-run win. Ami Campbell and former Spark Sarah Glenn shone with the bat to help Tennant’s side to victory.
Player to Watch
A player to watch for the Storm is their captain Sophie Luff, who, when batting well can be a very assured player. She has been known to lead her side to victory on many an occasion and she is a player that the side look to to get them out of various situations.
Her biggest cricket achievement is said to be her two KSL (Kia Super League) titles with Storm in both 2017 & 19, and she has been an ever-present in the Storm side this year.
Ticketing information
Admission for the game Tuesday is free, with it being the first game the Sparks are playing at Moseley cricket club this season.
The game is a 10:30am start, and the address for the stadium is: Streetsbrook Road, Shirley, Solihull, B90 3PE.
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